The present inventions apply to the field of soft elastomers, more particularly to gelatinous elastomers, and most particularly to the type of soft elastomer which is a plasticized block copolymer gel (hereafter xe2x80x9cgelxe2x80x9d).
Gels are useful in many applications due to their properties that include high elongation, energy dampening, hydrostatic-like deformation, and elasticity. Applications of gels include but are not limited to cushioning, vibration dampening, shock absorption, toys, novelties, and friction enhancers.
There was considerable prior work in the gel field. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,450, which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a gel made from ultra-high molecular weight SEEPS material, and provides references to a substantial number of prior art gel patents. The gel of this ""450 patent remains the superior gel in the prior art insofar as elongation to failure, elasticity without permanent deformation, strength, and plasticizer retention.
Other prior art gels, which the inventor considers inferior due to their high tack, excessive oil bleed and low durability, have been patented in the name of John Y. Chen of Applied Elastomerics, Inc. Examples of such gels may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,161,555; 6,148,830; 6,117,176; 6,050,871; 6,033,283; 5,962,572; 5,938,499; 5,884,639; 5,868,597; 5,760,117; 5,655,947; 5,633,286; 5,624,294; 5,508,334; 5,475,890; 5,336,708; 5,334,222; 5,324,222; 5,262,468; 5,260,371; 5,239,723; 5,153,254; 4,618,213; and 4,369,284. U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,450 is believed to be the first to disclose a styrene etbylene-butylene ethylene-pronylene styrene gel, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,999 by inventor Ronald Crossland appears to be the first to disclose an SEBS gel. Another gel that is available is called xe2x80x9cJ-SOFTxe2x80x9d, a pelleted injection molding material offered by ATP, a division of Newgrange Company in Rhode Island.
It is an object of some embodiments of the invention to provide high-strength, low-bleed, low-tack gels. Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art on reading this document.